| Robbie Arnott | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1989 (age 34–35) Launceston, Tasmania, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Author |
| Years active | 2018–present |
| Known for |
|
Robbie Arnott (born 1989) is an Australian author known for his novels Flames, The Rain Heron and Limberlost, all of which were nominated for prestigious Australian literary awards.
Career
Arnott's early writing appeared in literary publications Island Magazine, Kill Your Darlings and The Lifted Brow. In 2014, Arnott was awarded the Scribe Nonfiction Prize for Young Writers, and in 2015 won the Tasmanian Young Writer's Fellowship.
Flames, Arnott's first novel, was released by Text Publishing in Australia in 2018. The novel was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award in 2019 and was nominated for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for fiction. Following the release of Flames, Arnott was named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist, a title awarded to select Australian authors under the age of 35 at the time their work was published. Flames has been included as a text in Australian VCE (Victorian) school curriculum.
The Rain Heron, Arnott's second novel, was released in 2020, and won The Age Book of the Year Award as well as being shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. Critics noted the novel continued Arnott's style of "risk-taking" and "daring" literary fiction, with a positive reception to its environmental messages.
The third novel from Arnott, Limberlost, was released in 2022. It became Arnott's second novel to win The Age Book of the Year Award, was shortlisted for the 2023 Miles Franklin Award, and won the 2023 Voss Literary Prize. It was also longlisted for the 2024 International Dublin Literary Award. Like Arnott's previous novels, Limberlost found critical success both in Australia and internationally, with positive reviews from noted critics and newspapers.
His fourth novel, Dusk, got published in October 2024.
Personal life
Arnott was born in Launceston, and now lives in Hobart. He has one daughter.
Awards
| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Flames | Queensland Literary Awards | Fiction | Shortlisted | |
| Readings Prize | New Australian Fiction | Shortlisted | |||
| 2019 | ALS Gold Medal | — | Longlisted | ||
| Indie Book Awards | Debut Fiction | Longlisted | |||
| Miles Franklin Award | — | Longlisted | |||
| MUD Literary Prize | — | Shortlisted | |||
| NSW Premier's Literary Award | UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing | Shortlisted | |||
| Not the Booker Prize | — | Shortlisted | |||
| Victorian Premier's Literary Awards | Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction | Shortlisted | |||
| 2020 | International Dublin Literary Award | — | Longlisted | ||
| Voss Literary Prize | — | Longlisted | |||
| 2021 | The Rain Heron | Australian Book Industry Awards | Small Publisher Adult Book | Shortlisted | |
| Miles Franklin Award | — | Shortlisted | |||
| Voss Literary Prize | — | Shortlisted | |||
| 2022 | Tasmanian Literary Awards | Fiction | Longlisted | ||
| William Saroyan International Prize for Writing | Fiction | Shortlisted | |||
| 2023 | Limberlost | ARA Historical Novel Prize | Adult | Longlisted | |
| Australian Book Industry Awards | Literary Fiction | Shortlisted | |||
| Dylan Thomas Prize | — | Shortlisted | |||
| Indie Book Award | Fiction | Shortlisted | |||
| Voss Literary Prize | — | Won | |||
| 2024 | Dick and Joan Green Family Award for Tasmanian History | — | Won | ||
| International Dublin Literary Award | — | Longlisted |
Bibliography
Novels
- —— (2018). Flames. Text Publishing. ISBN 9781925603521.
- —— (2020). The Rain Heron. Text Publishing. ISBN 9781922268778.
- —— (2022). Limberlost. Text Publishing. ISBN 9781922458766.
- —— (2024). Dusk. Pan Macmillan (published 8 October 2024). ISBN 9781761560941.
Novella
- —— (2019). The Hall Chimp. Atlantic Books. ISBN 9781838950545.
Critical studies of Arnott's work
Limberlost
- Mills, Jennifer (October 2022). "A distant leviathan : Robbie Arnott's realist new novel". Australian Book Review. 447: 38.
References
- "Robbie Arnott". Text Publishing. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- "'Past Winners'". Tasmanian Literary Awards.
- "Miles Franklin 2019 longlist announced". Books+Publishing. 22 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- "Four writers named 2019 'SMH' Best Young Australian Novelists". Books+Publishing. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- Literature, VCE English &. "Research Guides: VCE English & Literature guide - units 3 & 4: Australian texts". guides.slv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- Steger, Jason (3 September 2021). "Robbie Arnott's Rain Heron swoops on the Age Book of the Year". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- Tepper, Anderson (23 March 2021). "International Novels Unearth Family Secrets and Nature's Mysteries". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- Woollett, Laura Elizabeth (26 May 2020). "Laura Elizabeth Woollett reviews 'The Rain Heron' by Robbie Arnott". Australian Book Review. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- "Miles Franklin Literary Award 2023 shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 20 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- "Arnott wins 2023 Voss Literary Prize". Books+Publishing. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
- "ANZ authors among 2024 Dublin Literary Award longlistees". Books+Publishing. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
- "Confluences | Megan Cheong on Limberlost by Robbie Arnott". Sydney Review of Books. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- Harrison, Melissa (9 November 2022). "Limberlost by Robbie Arnott review – a whole life in closeup". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- "Limberlost is a quiet marvel". The West Australian. 12 November 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- "Dusk". Pan Macmillan Australia. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
- "Book Launch: Dusk". Readings. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
- Heath, Nicola (26 November 2022). "A mad whale and a furious quoll appear in this award-winning writer's latest work of 'eco-fiction'". ABC News. Retrieved 26 June 2023.